Blown engine robs Rhodes of first win, handing victory to Busch

Busch had the dominant truck in the race. He won the first two stages and led a race-high 91 laps. But Ben Rhodes’ misfortunes played into Busch’s hands. With seven laps remaining in the race, the engine blew on Rhodes No. 27 truck.

“Ben Rhodes had that race won, the race was his,” Busch said. “It’s just a true testament to Kyle Busch Motorsports. It was really fast out there.”

Busch inherited the lead and held it to the finish for his 47 career win in the Camping World Truck Series. Johnny Sauter finished second followed by John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Truex, Brett Moffitt, Kaz Grala, Justin Haley and Austin Cindric.

It was definitely a good night for our team, rebounding to finish third,” Nemechek said. “But we needed a little bit more to keep up with the 51 and the 4.”

Rhodes ran a masterful race and nearly redeemed himself. After wrecking himself and Sauter in his Kansas debut last year, Rhodes led 25 laps before smoking onto pit road after a piece of debris punctured the radiator.

“I’m coming to you, it’s dead,” Rhodes radioed to the team.

Busch kicked off the final stage on Lap 86, but received an early challenge from Rhodes. The field completed one lap — with Rhodes in the lead — before Kaz Grala popped the back of Travis Miller in Turn 2 to trigger Caution 9.

Rhodes controlled the restart from the top lane with Busch on the inside on Lap 91. Bell was third followed by Sauter, Moffitt, Nemechek, Briscoe, Peters, Crafton and Haley. Busch shot to the lead and the Toyotas battled side-by-side for the next four laps. On Lap 95, Busch was able to pull out to a two-car length advantage. With 70 laps remaining, Busch, Rhodes and Bell were separated by 0.45-seconds.

Busch led Lap 100 with Rhodes, Bell, Sauter, Nemechek, Briscoe, Crafton, Truex, Peters and Moffitt in tow. With 60 laps remaining, Busch had extended his lead by 0.701-seconds over Rhodes. Bell, Sauter and Briscoe rounded out the top five followed by Nemechek, Crafton, Truex, Moffitt, Peters and Enfinger.

Busch’s lead was 1.463-seconds over Rhodes with 50 laps to go. Bell, Sauter, Briscoe, Nemechek, Crafton, Truex, Moffitt, and Enfinger completed the top 10.

Bell pit from third-place on Lap 123. Kyle Busch pitted from the lead on Lap 125, but before he left his box, Ross Chastain pounded the Turn 4 wall to bring out Caution 10.

Rhodes was in the lead followed by Sauter, Briscoe, Nemechek, Truex, Crafton, Moffitt, Enfinger, Haley and Peters when they came to pit road. Busch controlled the Lap 131 restart with Rhodes alongside. Briscoe gave Bell a push and Crafton came up on the outside followed by Nemechek, Sauter, Moffitt, Truex, Peters and Grala.

When the leaders came into Turn 4 on Lap 133, Crafton got loose, spun off the corner and into the front stretch grass. Busch led the field as the caution flag flew for the 11th time. Rhodes, Sauter, Briscoe, Nemechek, Truex, Moffitt, Enfinger, Peters and Bell rounded out the top 10.

With 29 laps remaining, Busch and Rhodes battled for the point when the race returned to green. Rhodes finally pulled out to the lead on the backstretch on Lap 142. Nemechek attempted to attack the Toyotas but Rhodes and Busch continued to pull away from the Chevy. On Lap 147, Rhodes pulled pass the lapped car of Cody Ware but Busch nearly wrecked as the No. 50 struggled coming off of Turn 4. That enabled Rhodes to extend his advantage to 0.910-seconds with 18 laps to go. Nemechek was third with Briscoe and Sauter completing the top five.

There were 15 lead changes among four drivers. The race was slowed 11 times for 46 laps.

Sauter leads the Camping World Truck Series standings by two points over Bell.

Stage 2

Kyle Busch earned the second stage win with a 1.6-second advantage over Christopher Bell.

Ben Rhodes completed the Toyota trifecta in the second segment of the Tundra 250 followed by Chase Briscoe and Johnny Sauter.

“Out here in the front on my own I’m neutral,” said Busch, who led 30 of 80 laps. “I’m thinking about a round of wedge in the rear.”

Grant Enfinger, John Hunter Nemechek, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Truex and Matt Crafton rounded out the top 10.

Enfinger elected not to pit between segments and led the field in the second segment on Lap 47. Moffitt, Kaz Grala, Gragson, Regan Smith, Bell, Busch, Justin Haley, Crafton, Briscoe, Sauter and Truex comprised the first six rows.

Enfinger extended his lead to .584-seconds after the first five laps over Bell. With Enfinger on old tires, Bell was able to pass him on Lap 53 — but not before NASCAR waved the yellow flag for the seventh caution after Noah Gragson blew a tire. Gragson restarted third, but did not stop for service between stages.

When the race restarted on Lap 57, Enfinger led followed by Bell, Rhodes, Busch, Moffitt, Briscoe, Nemechek, Haley and Sauter. Bell recaptured the lead with Busch, Rhodes, Nemechek and Enfinger in tow. Briscoe and Enfinger moved passed Nemechek for fourth and fifth-place, respectively on Lap 59. Coughlin returned to the track, 26 laps off the pace.

By Lap 64, Busch moved to within a car length of Bell. Rhodes, Enfinger, Briscoe, Nemechek, Sauter, Moffitt, Truex and Crafton rounded out the top 10 with 15 laps remaining in the stage. With 10 laps to go in the second segment, Busch attempted to use the inside and the outside to get around Bell and finally made the pass coming off of Turn 3 on Lap 71. Bell was second with Rhodes, Briscoe and Enfinger completing the top five.

With six laps to go, Rhodes passed Bell on the inside entering Turn 1 for second but trailed Busch by 1.2-seconds. Bell regained the second spot with four laps in remaining in the stage while Sauter moved back into the top five.

Nineteen cars remained on the lead lap.

Stage 1

Kyle Busch led the final 18 laps in the Toyota Tundra 250 en route to the first stage win.

He topped his KBM teammate Christopher Bell to the line by 0.174-seconds after the first 40 laps. Johnny Sauter, John Hunter Nemechek, Matt Crafton, Ryan Truex, Ben Rhodes, Chase Briscoe, Grant Enfinger and Brett Moffitt rounded out the top 10.

Bell led the field to green at Kansas Speedway on Friday and held the point for 22 laps.

The first of six cautions ignited on Lap 6 after Wendell Chavous got into the wall in Turn 4. Bell was leading followed by Sauter, Busch, Truex and Crafton. Ben Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Noah Gragson, Kaz Grala and Brett Moffitt rounded out the top 10.

The race returned to green on Lap 10 with Bell on the outside of Sauter. The leaders barely got into the backstretch before a Grant Enfinger and Cody Coughlin got together on the backstretch. The No. 29 Ford of Chase Briscoe got loose under Enfinger and the No. 98 Toyota went into the spin cycle to bring out Caution 2.

Bell continued to lead when the race went green on Lap 14 followed by Sadler, Busch, Rhodes, Crafton, Truex, Gragson, Nemechek, Moffitt and Justin Haley. With a push from Busch, the Toyotas moved ahead of the pack.

The field almost completed two laps before Stewart Friesen spun off Turn 4 then got clobbered by Jordan Anderson. Bell remained out front with Busch, Rhodes, Sauter and Crafton completing the top five. Bell extended his position from the point after the race restarted on Lap 21. Sauter passed Rhodes for third in the first lap.

Busch passed Bell for the lead on Lap 23, but Chauvous, who was unable to practice prior to race, wrecked in Turn 4 to trigger Caution 4. Busch was leading followed by Bell, Sauter, Nemechek and Crafton. Rhodes, Truex, Briscoe, Austin Cindric and Haley rounded out the top 10. The lead-lap trucks of Enfinger, Moffitt, Timothy Peters, Grala and Ross Chastain pitted on Lap 27.

Busch controlled the restart on Lap 30 with 10 circuits remaining in the first stage. He completed one lap before the stalled truck of Travis Miller caused Caution 5. Busch remained up front followed by Bell, Sauter, Nemechek and Rhodes when the race continued on Lap 34. With five laps remaining in the segment, Busch’s lead was 0.312-seconds over Bell. Cody Coughlin had an extended pit stop on Lap 35 and dropped to 28th. He was pushed behind the wall to join Todd Peck, Camden Murphy, Chavous and Friesen.

Spencer Boyd and Peck started at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Laps Led
1	51	Kyle Busch	Toyota	167	2:18'41	91
2	21	Johnny Sauter	Chevrolet	167	2.622
3	8	John Hunter Nemechek	Chevrolet	167	4.832
4	4	Christopher Bell	Toyota	167	5.029	37
5	29	Chase Briscoe	Ford	167	5.486
6	16	Ryan Truex	Toyota	167	7.928
7	7	Brett Moffitt	Toyota	167	9.238
8	33	Kaz Grala	Chevrolet	167	10.396
9	24	Justin Haley	Chevrolet	167	11.133
10	19	Austin Cindric	Ford	167	13.148